Users can expect PC vendors to begin supplying the necessary hardware to support high-speed connectivity. Third-party PC Card makers have started providing IEEE 1394 ports to add to PCs; other manufacturers (e.g., Sony) are already building IEEE 1394 ports into their system boards. DV software designers are paying more attention to the home PC market, and storage companies are developing bigger and faster hard disks to provide the space necessary for desktop editing.
To set up a home video studio, you need a high-end PC, a DV camera and desktop editing software, and an IEEE 1394 capture board. For details about this equipment, see the sidebar "Setting Up Your Home Video Studio."
PC-based digital VCRs. Major manufacturers such as Sony and Panasonic will soon release D-VCRs, and Win2K Pro will be ready to support them. These devices will connect to a PC through an IEEE 1394 port that lets several data, video, and sound types transfer to and from the PC to the D-VCR with virtually no quality degradation. D-VCRs will also provide for mass storage—the expected D-VCR tape data capacity is 6GB. Because of D-VCRs' high cost (approximately $4000), Sony's initial marketing effort will target professional videographers.
DVD devices. Win2K Pro supports DVD for movie-playback and storage. Entertainment PCs typically support movie-playback capabilities, but several multimedia hardware platform PCs also require support for a high-quality playback system. Because a PC image has a higher number of pixels per inch than your standard resolution television screen, the image quality of a DVD running on a PC will be superior to that of a standard DVD video player.
Win2K Pro supports DVD-ROM in a Windows Driver Model (WDM) device driver. The driver prompts Win2K to read data sectors from a DVD-ROM drive and provides storage space as large as 17GB. Microsoft plans support for writable DVD discs when the DVD devices are available to consumers.
To play DVD movies from your computer on a television, you need a card with S-Video and audio input jacks and a video-decoder chip. You connect the S-Video to your television and the audio jacks to your receiver. ATI Technologies' All-In-Wonder card includes the input jacks and a video-decoder chip. This card also lets you select tightly integrated 2-D, 3-D, DVD, and television features, as well as an IEEE 1394 port.
Priced at about $200, the All-In-Wonder card delivers a punch to your PC. The graphics chip that the manufacturers built into the card and the DVD-player software that comes with the product provide full-frame rate, full-screen video. When you plug a television antenna or coaxial cable into the All-In-Wonder card, your PC works as a television. You also get your cable stations when you use an external cable box with the card. You can use this connection type to zoom in on a live television image when you drag your mouse cursor over the image.
You can also do screen and video captures when you record television programs as AVI, Moving Pictures Experts Group (MPEG), or MPEG-2 files and monitor a program's closed-captioned text. An Instant Replay button lets you review live video immediately after you see it on television. The All-In-Wonder product comes with a Rage 128 GL graphics chip that lets you play 3-D games. (For more information about the All-In-Wonder card, visit ATI's Web site at http://www.ati.com.)
You can find alternative systems, but few video-device cards offer the comprehensive package that the All-In-Wonder card does. For example, you can add a separate MPEG-2/DVD decoder and video card and the DVD player software to your system to achieve DVD play. However, if you use the All-In-Wonder card, you'll save money and a card slot and have one less device to troubleshoot.
Audio devices. Win2K Pro can redirect audio to various devices (e.g., speakers and receivers) through USB and IEEE 1394 ports. Redirecting audio output to external devices shelters the signal from high amounts of internal radio-frequency noises and results in higher fidelity.
Have you ever accidentally disconnected your PC speakers and wasted several minutes trying to figure out why your CD player lost sound? Or have you needed to add another power adapter to your already tangled web of cords to externally power your speakers? Then try USB speakers. Many USB speakers are Win2K ready, which translates into easy PnP connectivity. Also, the OS alerts you to connect the speakers if you haven't already connected them. The PC can pick volume, surround, bass, and treble speaker controls so that you can control these features from your desktop, and Microsoft is adding PnP USB ports to Win2K Pro. USB speakers also obtain power from the PC, a feature that eliminates the need for another power adapter.
As PC users become more savvy about sound quality, more companies will begin to cater to those users. For example, companies are designing alternatives to multimedia speakers with built-in amplifiers. Emerging products are high-end amplifiers and tuners that plug into PCs and improve amplifying power. At $499, Yamaha offers the Natural Sound Personal Entertainment Theater (RP-U100), which is a high-end amplifier and tuner that plugs into your PC. The Yamaha receiver has 30 watts per channel and beats the most expensive speakers with built-in amplfiers. (For more information about the RP-U100, visit Yamaha's Web site at http://www.yamaha.com.)
High-end amplifiers and tuners also let you add most speakers—including those found in home systems—and you can manipulate sound settings from the PC. For example, you can simulate 3-D surround sound and several other preset audio mix features, such as enhanced game noises and dynamic-range adjustment. Because most audio devices don't need the bandwidth that video calls for, most amplifiers will use a USB port, as does the RP-U100. Win2K Pro offers its USB port connection support to let you access these cool peripheral devices.
Connect to the Future
Microsoft's growing attention to the peripheral market makes Win2K Pro an exciting arrival. The new functionality that Win2K Pro provides offers more leverage in installing and using peripheral devices than NT 4.0 does. The peripheral device market is emerging, and you can expect innovative design breakthroughs that will bring converging devices even closer in the months to come.